The UG COVID-19 website reported 431 cases and 45 total deaths in Wyandotte County on Tuesday. (From UG COVID-19 website) One more death was reported April 21 at the RIverbend Post-Acute Rehabilitation facility in Kansas City, Kansas, bringing the total number of deaths to 25. (UG Health Department graphic)
The Unified Government Health Department has expanded its COVID-19 testing, and Wyandotte County residents who have symptoms may drive through or walk in from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 619 Ann Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
No appointment is necessary, according to the health department.
Today the UG COVID-19 webpage at 4:50 p.m. reported 431 positive cases and 45 COVID-19 related deaths in Wyandotte County. There were 48 hospitalizations reported, with 102 recoveries. It was an increase of one death since Monday evening.
There was one additional death today, at the Riverbend Post-Acute Rehabilitation facility, bringing the number of deaths there to 25, according to the Health Department. Riverbend makes up 55 percent of the Wyandotte County COVID-19 deaths and 23 percent of the state of Kansas COVID-19 deaths.
Dr. Erin Corriveau, deputy medical officer for the health department, said expanded testing here was important.
“Ramping up testing capacity in Wyandotte means we will get a clearer picture of what we are dealing with,” Dr. Corriveau said in a news release.
“We wanted to remove barriers to testing, like removing the need for an appointment and opening up testing criteria, allowing more people to access testing.
“More testing will not only give community members information to protect their loved ones and neighbors – it will also help us see where and how COVID-19 is spreading,” she said. “This is critical information to help us stop the spread of this disease in our community.”
According to the health department, testing is available, at no charge, for Wyandotte County residents who have experienced any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 within the past 48 hours.
Symptoms may include fever, dry cough, shortness of breath-difficulty breathing, body aches, sore throat, sudden lack of sense of taste or smell, nausea, diarrhea and tiredness.
Testing is provided regardless of immigration status, health coverage or ability to pay, according to the health department.
Residents who prefer to set up an appointment may confidentially report their symptoms online at wycokck.org/COVID-19 or by calling 3-1-1. Someone from the Health Department will follow up to set up a testing appointment and provide further guidance.
by Corinne Boyer, Kansas News Service
Garden City, Kansas — The continuing spread of COVID-19 among workers who slaughter livestock and package meat poses a growing threat to keeping the industry’s plants in operation.
Already, the coronavirus temporarily shut down a pork-processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a beefpacking facility in Greeley, Colorado.
Now in the cattle slaughterhouses of southwest Kansas, both National Beef Packing Co. and Cargill Inc. have confirmed cases of the coronavirus among workers at their plants in Dodge City and Liberal.
Tyson Foods Inc. has not publicly confirmed the number of cases or which of its locations have the virus. In an email, a spokeswoman for Finney County government declined to say whether there are confirmed cases at the plant — the county’s largest employer.
As the global pandemic reaches deeper into small cities on the Great Plains where meatpacking is concentrated — the number of COVID-19 cases in Ford County went from 17 to 107 in the last week — the industry could face a stall. There were 187 positive cases in Ford County on Tuesday.
In the meantime, unions have begun pressing for better coronavirus protections inside plants where workers stand-side-by side to cut meat from carcases. And while plants have implemented extra sanitation shifts and social distancing efforts, it’s not always possible for workers to stand 6 feet apart.
Factory conditions
Martin Rosas is president of the United Food & Commercial Workers District Union Local 2, which represents 9,000 meatpacking and food processing workers in Kansas. He said workers are anxious.
“One of the biggest concerns that our members have … is social distancing while their lunch time and break times occur” he said.
National Beef and Cargill have met the union’s requests to stagger break times and have provided more space and barriers to employees during breaks.
Rosas said the union wants meatpacking plants to slow down production lines for workers’ safety.
“Because if their line hasn’t been slowed down yet, that’s going to create another safety hazard,” Rosas said. “If … people try to change their masks and try to grab a hold of their product, it makes it difficult.”
On April 8, National Beef announced the first positive case at its Dodge City plant.
On April 11, the company confirmed COVID-19 cases among its workers, but it did not specify the number of cases at its Liberal location.
“These employees have not been in our Liberal facility for several days and are now in quarantine at home for time required for a full recovery,” the statement said.
On April 16, Keith Welty with National Beef said the company is not confirming specific numbers of cases but said employees have tested positive in Dodge City. Now that plant has moved its scheduled cleaning up by a week. From April 16 through the 21, the plant will shut down, and Welty said that will stop beef production for three days.
The plant is using that time to install stainless steel partitions between workers on the production floor. Heated tents have been set up outside for lunch breaks and National Beef has said it has provided face masks and face shields for workers.
Daniel Sullivan, a Cargill spokesman, confirmed the company’s Dodge City location has confirmed positive cases, but did not specify how many.
“Our priority is limiting the spread of the virus where we can,” Sullivan said. “We are working with local health officials to ensure appropriate prevention, testing, cleaning and quarantine protocols are followed.”
Sullivan said Cargill is also taking workers’ temperatures, providing face coverings and practicing social distancing where possible.
Tyson spokeswoman Liz Croston said the company is checking employees’ temperatures and supplying face coverings, has installed plastic dividers and is practicing social distancing.
In the meantime, the union asked Gov. Laura Kelly to issue an executive order that would mandate meatpacking plants and grocery stores abide by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 guidelines to keep workers safe. Rosas said the governor hasn’t replied.
Meat production
Glynn Tonsor, a professor in the department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, estimates that southwest Kansas plants account for about 25 to 30% of the country’s beef production.
“If we have more than three of the large plants down for more than a week, then you start having a bigger problem of cattle stacking up,” he said.
As of mid-April, Tonsor said he doesn’t think the nation is on the brink of a meat shortage.
“Mainly because we haven’t had multiple plants with that (coronavirus) challenge yet,” he said.
Tyson has shut down its Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork plant, Croston said in an email. She added that the company has “scaled back production” at its Finney County plant.
“We’re beginning to experience varying levels of production at some locations,” she said. “Some is planned due to additional worker safety precautions, but some is occurring because of absenteeism.”
Meatpacking workers
Nicole’s fiance works at National Beef. She’s raising two young children with compromised immune systems. The Kansas News Service is only using her middle name because she fears that talking publicly could create problems for her fiance at work.
He’s the family’s only source of income, and his potential exposure to a virus at work is a source of anxiety for the family.
“He gets right into the shower to wash off any bacteria that he possibly can,” she said. “It’s very stressful because he is scared to hold or touch the kids just in case he may have come into contact with anybody or anything.”
Corinne Boyer covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @Corinne_Boyer or email cboyer (at) hppr (dot) org.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.hppr.org/post/kansas-meatpacking-plants-have-coronavirus-cases-and-stay-open-amid-safety-concerns.
Kansas had 2,025 total positive cases and 107 total deaths on Tuesday, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. (KDHE map)
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said the state faces difficult budget decisions in the weeks and months ahead in the wake of a $1.27 billion budget deficit shortfall for the next two fiscal years.
The state received consensus revenue estimates on Monday, and Gov. Kelly said she plans to meet with the state’s budget director this week to discuss the budget, including managing the cash flow.
The shortfall is largely attributed to the effects of stopping the economy in order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
At a news conference Tuesday, Gov. Kelly said she had already instructed state agencies to freeze non-COVID related hires and identify cost savings to help protect critical investments as much as possible.
“We are cautiously optimistic that we may be able to make some strategic decisions that help offset painful cuts to critical services in the current fiscal year,” Gov. Kelly said.
As the state came into this process, the state had about $900 million in its ending balance, which provides a nice cushion, Gov. Kelly said.
It appears that the state will end this fiscal year with about $200 million in the ending balance, and it’s next year that looks bad, she said. The state could lose $650 million in revenue next year, with the carryover of $200 million it would leave the state about $450 million down.
Gov. Kelly said she includes education in the critical or essential services, and would do everything possible to avoid making cuts to those areas.
The state may be looking at shifting funds around, Gov. Kelly said.
The governor said the federal government Is talking about additional stimulus funds and she hopes some will help states dealing with shortfalls.
Gov. Kelly also said she will work with legislators on the budget.
The state Department of Labor has completed the expansion of unemployment benefits from 16 to 26 weeks, Gov. Kelly said. The extension applies automatically to all claims filed on or after Jan. 1. The expansion was approved earlier by the Legislature.
As of today, KDHE has announced individuals only need two symptoms to be tested for COVID-19, she said, not including fever. The goal is to get more testing done quickly, so treatment can be initiated earlier and contact tracing can begin.
Gov. Kelly said the guidelines for reopening from the White House showed three phases.
Kansas hasn’t gotten to the first phase yet, which includes testing and getting the positive cases out of the general population, then doing contact tracing. Those need to be in place before the state can think about opening the doors. She said the state is working hard trying to get its federal partners to provide the testing.
The KDHE is currently adding to the state’s ability to do contact tracing, she said, with the 400 additional positions.
The state has set midnight May 3 as the time it would like to lift the statewide stay-at-home order, and then it would be up to the local health departments if they would like to do something different, she said.
The state is working on a plan to announce before May 3, she said. However, if everything is not in place, including testing and contact tracing, the state may have to extend the reopening date, she added.
Gov. Kelly also said they need to see that the number of cases has plateaued and the curve is starting to come down. On Tuesday, the number of new cases was 39, which is less than the previous day’s new cases, she said.
Gov. Kelly said the state is working with businesses, including the Kansas Chamber, on guidelines for reopening. Different industries or sectors could have different guidelines, she added.
She said she understands that people are tired, and it is frustrating to not be able to go to work and have a paycheck coming in. While she understands that, she said she has to continue to act in the best interests of all Kansans and their health.
On Tuesday, there were 2,025 positive COVID-19 cases in Kansas, and a total 107 deaths, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Cases were up 39 from Monday. Sixty-nine counties reported positive cases. The number of deaths was up seven.
Wyandotte County reported 430 cases, with 44 deaths, at 3:10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 website.
Other counties’ reports, according to the KDHE: Johnson County, 384 cases; Sedgwick (Wichita area), 251 cases; Ford (Dodge City area), 187 cases; Leavenworth County, 136 cases; Shawnee (Topeka area), 93 cases; Seward (Liberal area), 80 cases; Coffey (Burlington area), 47 cases; Douglas (Lawrence area), 43 cases; Finney (Garden City area), 41 cases; Lyon County (Emporia area), 38 cases; Riley County (Manhattan area), 28 cases.
To see the governor’s news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/GovLauraKelly/videos/253168479197216/.
The Kansas COVID-19 resource page is at https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus.
The UG’s COVID-19 webpage is athttps://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
